I can only access google sites and this one. All other sites including the Orange site will not load. Google will preform searches but I can not access the sites when they are found. I use my own wireless router. I can download my email through outlook. I've re-intalled internet explorer 7 to no avail. What is going on?
Joined: 12 Jun 2006Posts: 907Location: Weston-super-Mare, UK
UNABLE TO ACCESS WEB PAGES - SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS
The cause of this is incorrect network adapter Maximum Transmission Unit or MTU setting. You need to change the MTU setting on the computer using DRTCP.
If you can not access the site you will have to obtain the programme from a friend or at work. Once you have the programme double click on it to run.
First make a note of the current settings.
Fill in the programme settings as per the web pages above - SAVE - EXIT and reboot computer.
If you can not access the pages to see settings then they are as follows:
TCP Receive Window = First try 55600 with 1430 below. Then try 51048 with 1458. (RWIN)
Window Scaling = Yes
Time Stamping = No
Selective Acks = Yes
Dial Up (RAS) MTU = First try 1430 if no luck try 1458
Path MTU discovery = Yes
Black hole detection = default
MAx duplicate Acks = 2
TTL = 64
If you are using a USB modem put the MTU value in Dial Up (RAS) MTU
If you are using a network card to connect to router put the MTU value as follows. Select your Ethernet Card (NIC) under Adapter Settings and enter there.
If you are using a wireless connection select your wireless adapter under Adapter Settings and enter there.
Once you can access webpages go to pages above to calculate your best RWIN depending on the speed of your connection. You can also optimise the settings at: http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks
Others have also solved the problem by changing the normal settings:
to Internet protocol pppoe - however this is not the setting as advised by Orange. To change the MTU needs some skill so changing this internet protocol may be the easiest change to make.
Wonderful, I have been trying for 6 weeks to get this fixed with Orange's technical staff, and here is a simple fix that worked perfectly.
This has fixed 3 Win 98 computers which ceased functioning correctly following a line "upgrade". It would appear that 1500 MTU no longer works with Win98! I suggested that it may be something to do with MTU settings to tech support, but I might as well have been speaking in Serbo-Croat! I note that Orange now states that Win2K is the minimum spec for Broadband, so perhaps they are aware of this after all - shame they won't share it with the call centre staff.
I have WinMe, my tale of woe & sequence of events identical to that of [b]petercooke[/b]. Just a thought - if our versions of Windows are now below Orange' s minimum requirement for broadband, is this not a breach of contract by them? WinMe was supported when I signed up to Wanadoo, have had no communication from them about this no longer being the case & cannot find anything in their website terms & conditions about minimum system requirements.
A friend of mine has the Orange "free" broadband with the USB modem, has had it for 2 months or so, and then last week it just stopped working properly.
It would connect (and say "connected at 2.2Mbps") and you could bring up Google, and this site, but hardly anything else.
Yesterday evening I popped round to see if I could sort it out for her. I read this thread about MTUs etc. Obviously, because her connection was not working properly, I could not download DR TCP or any similar optimization software.
So, in the end, I just started up REGEDIT, searched for all occurrences of MTU and changed the value from 1500 to 1430.
Restarted the PC (Its an IBM Thinkpad running Win2000) and connected, and could now web browse normally.
Thanks for the advice on this page.
However: does anyone know WHY doing this was suddenly necessary? Orange broadband worked OK (albeit sometimes slowly) for several weeks.
Then suddenly it went crap, and required what is to most people a pretty "techy" alteration to settings to make it work again.
Thank you Keith for that excellent information on the answer to the problem that I have had for over 3 weeks and that Orange were unable to solve for me although they were full of useless suggestions. I am no computer expert but followed your instructions and finally have access to all web sites. Working perfectly on Windows 98SE with 55600 and 1430.
I have been having the same problem with limited site access for the past couple of weeks. Unsurprisingly Orange were no help. I'm so thankful for this place. I wouldn't wish it on anyone but I was relieved to discover that it wasn't just me who had this problem. However, I am a self confessed technical eggit and find the language of computers a difficult one to fathom. Yet, thanks to the clarity of help I've read here, I think I'm getting the hang of it..well sort of.
I tried to follow the excellent advice I've read. I managed to diagnosis my problem but unfortunately I couldn't download the DRTCP program because I couldn't load the site, (I have health issues which makes leaving the house not always possible so I don't have access to another pc, and fiercely independent soul as I am, I'm loathed to ask a friend to put the program onto disc for me and drop it round, all because of Orange.) I'd managed to download a different optimiser to change my MTU to no effect. I'd also tried changing the DNS, also to no avail.
But this afternoon, intoxicated on a heady mix of having gone past the stage of caring, and a rough idea of what I was looking for, I investigated my pc a bit further. She, gawd bless her, is an old girl. A dinosaur of the windows 98 second edition era, but she serves me well. I first apologised for what I was about to do to her. I clicked on 'my computer' and then control panel, then network, and found the dial up adaptor. By this point I felt a bit faint, but I was brave and I highlighted it and looked at the properties. Much to my surprise I found that on the advance tab I could change the packet size. It was set at automatic, so fearing the worst I changed it to 'small'. I took a deep breath, looked at the ceiling and said a little prayer, clicked ok, and restarted my computer. I wasn't entirely sure that she would restart. She really doesn't like me fiddling with her settings. It feels like the technical equivalent of donning a pair of rubber gloves and asking her to bend over. She behaves as long as I don't press anything I'm not meant to. Rightly or wrongly, I believe this is a fair deal.
Much to my relief my pc did start with no complaints whatsoever. Then came that moment when I had to connect and open IE to see whether it would load my homepage. Ta-dah! Thankfully it worked, and so far everything seems normal.
Obviously we fiddle with our computers at our risk but I thought this information might be useful to anyone who is in the same position I was.
I am currently trapped in a relatively new 12 month contract. Orange called me at home in April and said that BB package I was on no longer existed, and that I had to transfer. As dissatisfied with Orange as I already was, I wasn't currently experiencing a problem. Because of my health, my internet connection is an important part of my life and when it goes wrong I can soon feel rather isloated. I was out of contract and I'd planned to change ISP at a time convienent to me, when I was able to get out and about and wouldn't mind being offline. I somehow don't quite trust Orange to give me a MAC code without a struggle, and I have to feel strong in myself to deal with such things. The Orange representative took me by surprise by calling me at home one evening and unfortunately I just couldn't contend with changing ISP unexpectedly. I was with both Freeserve and Wanadoo with no problems but I suspect I will pay to get out of this contract because Orange are providing an awful service.
Anyway, a bit of a relief induced ramble there, but keep up the good works, guys and gals.
The cause of this is incorrect network adapter Maximum Transmission Unit or MTU setting. You need to change the MTU setting on the computer using DRTCP.
If you can not access the site you will have to obtain the programme from a friend or at work. Once you have the programme double click on it to run.
First make a note of the current settings.
Fill in the programme settings as per the web pages above - SAVE - EXIT and reboot computer.
If you can not access the pages to see settings then they are as follows:
TCP Receive Window = First try 55600 with 1430 below. Then try 51048 with 1458. (RWIN)
Window Scaling = Yes
Time Stamping = No
Selective Acks = Yes
Dial Up (RAS) MTU = First try 1430 if no luck try 1458
Path MTU discovery = Yes
Black hole detection = default
MAx duplicate Acks = 2
TTL = 64
If you are using a USB modem put the MTU value in Dial Up (RAS) MTU
If you are using a network card to connect to router put the MTU value as follows. Select your Ethernet Card (NIC) under Adapter Settings and enter there.
If you are using a wireless connection select your wireless adapter under Adapter Settings and enter there.
Once you can access webpages go to pages above to calculate your best RWIN depending on the speed of your connection. You can also optimise the settings at: http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks
Others have also solved the problem by changing the normal settings:
to Internet protocol pppoe - however this is not the setting as advised by Orange. To change the MTU needs some skill so changing this internet protocol may be the easiest change to make.
Thanks for that information. It worked. Not only that it was easy to fix. I've been away from the computer for a while and couldn't face dealing with yet another Orange/wannadoo cockup. when i summoned the inner stregth to do it it was no problem so THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Do you have any idea why this happened out of the blue? I certainly did not adjust my settings.
Until the next problem...
Brock
I too am having similar problems to the above, the only difference is that I am running my laptop with Vista - should the above solution work on my OS?
I have had a go at changing the MTU settings with DrTCP but I'm still having problems viewing all sites.
It was working for a long while (I use a Belkin wireless router) and then all of a sudden it stopped working properly (currently using my old USB Modem).
I too am having similar problems to the above, the only difference is that I am running my laptop with Vista - should the above solution work on my OS?
I have had a go at changing the MTU settings with DrTCP but I'm still having problems viewing all sites.
It was working for a long while (I use a Belkin wireless router) and then all of a sudden it stopped working properly (currently using my old USB Modem).
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
I'm having the same problem I think. Using Windows 2000 Professional and a Belkin router. Using DrTCP to reduce to MTU to 1400 allowed access to bbc.co.uk and similar sites, but not to secure sites like Hotmail/eBay/etc.
Router MTU is already set to 1400 and PPPoA, etc - did this upon purchase at the beginning of the year to access Hotmail/eBay. Was all fine until two months ago when I lost all access bar Google and MSN Messenger. Used DrTCP and now back to partial access with Hotmail/etc. still timing out.
Others:
1430 MTU, 522640 RWIN
1468 MTU
1470 MTU, 37500 RWIN
1478 MTU, 204196 RWIN
1482 MTU
1492 MTU
1498 MTU
Keith
Thanks Keith, will try this tonight. I had been told to use 1400 before by Belkin, back when I thought the problem was with the router. Router was defaulting to 1458, but has never worked at that setting, was working fine at 1400 until recently.
Was also using a higher RWIN, so maybe reducing that will help. A lot of trial and error ahead of me tonight then, but at least a few ideas.
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